Coming Home
by Mac-Daddy 15
Summary: Clary is having a dificult time while Jace is stationed in Afghanistan. This is mailnly a phone conversation between the two of them, with a surprise ending. One-shot.


**First of all, I would like to apoogize for not posting anything in a while. I know I said I would try my best to write this summer, but there was a tragic loss in my family, plus I've been babysitting my nephew, so I haven't had much time to write.**

 **I would also like to give a HUGE shoutout to one of my very best friends, Red, who doesn't read FanFiction but always proof reads my stories and gives me ideas, haha. Thank you for everything!**

 **Thank you all so much for the favroites, follows, and reviews!**

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 **Okay, so I know absolutely nothing about the military, but Jace is currently stationed in Afghanistan. He hasn't been able to see Clary, or his two kids, for 11 months.**

 **This story may be totally ridiculous and absolutely pointless, and I'm so very sorry if it is.**

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Jace plopped down on his bunk and sighed, running a hand down his face. Today had been rough and had taken a lot out of him. All he wanted to do was call Clary. Just the thought of hearing her voice made him smile.

He reached under his bed for his backpack to retrieve his phone. After dialing her number, he waited a few minutes until she answered.

"Hello?" she said, a bit out of breath.

"Hey, babe," he said in a husky voice. God, how he had missed her.

"Jace!" she said excitedly. She hadn't been able to talk to him in three days.

"Yeah, it's me," he laughed slightly. "Is everything okay? You sound a little frazzled."

Clary let out an aggravated breath and said, "Yeah, everything's fine.

In the background, Jace heard a splashing noise and laughter following it. He smiled until he heard Clary shout, "SOPHIA HERONDALE! Stephen, come watch your sister for a minute!" After a moment, she yelled again, "I don't care what's on TV, come watch your sister right now, or you won't be watching TV for a week!"

"Okay, Clary, what's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing, everything is fine," she said again, only this time her voice was shaking, like it did when she tried not to cry.

"Clary, what is going on?" Jace asked again.

He was met with silence on the other end of the phone.

"Clarissa Herondale, tell me what is going on, right now," Jace said sternly.

This time, she finally broke down. "God, Jace. This is so hard," she said, and this time, he was pretty sure she _was_ crying.

"What is, baby? What's so hard?" Jace asked worriedly.

"Doing this without you. I came to terms with you joining the Army a long time ago. It was your choice and I respected that. When you first told me you were being deployed I was obviously devastated and would've done anything for you not to go, but I didn't say anything because I knew that this was what you wanted to do. I knew it would be hard, but I thought I'd be able to handle it, at least until you got back."

"Clary–"

"But I can't, Jace." By now, she wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was crying. "I can't handle it! I don't know what to do! Stephen is constantly asking when you're coming home, and I don't know what to tell him, and he's been getting in trouble at school, and Sophia never listens to me, and I've had to work overtime the past two weeks because my assistant just had surgery, and I know the kids aren't getting enough attention from me, and I hate that so bad, but I just _don't know what to do!"_

Jace felt a single tear roll down his cheek. He absolutely _hated_ that he wasn't there to help her, but there was nothing he could do about it. It didn't make not seeing his family in eleven months any easier, though. He hated that he had to miss his son's first day of kindergarten. He hated that his daughter might not even remember him – hell, she was only two when he left. But above all, he hated that he hadn't gotten to hug or kiss his wife in _eleven months._

"Stephen has been getting in trouble?" Jace asked, changing the subject.

Clary sighed. "Yes. His teacher told me he had talked back to her and was being mean to one of the other kids the other day. He actually talked back to me the other day, too. I didn't want to, but I gave him a spanking and took away his TV for the night."

"I'll talk to him."

Neither of them said anything for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. The sound of ruffling clothes broke Jace out of his trance. "What are you doing?"

"I'm changing shirts. Sophia thought it would be hilarious to open her chocolate milk and pour it on Mommy's shirt. I honestly don't know what to do with her, Jace. She never does anything I say. And I'm the only one to be the bad guy." She laughed a little. "When Stephen was that young, we could take turns. Now it's all me."

Jace laughed a little too before saying, "Can I talk to her real quick?"

"Yeah, hang on just a second." He could hear Clary walking down the hall that led to the kitchen, where he assumed Stephen was still watching Sophia.

"Sophie, Daddy wants to talk to you."

"Daddy!" he could hear her baby voice yell. He smiled brightly.

"Daddy," she said, this time into the phone.

"Hey, baby," Jace said. "What are you doing?"

"Eatin'," she replied happily.

"Really? Whatcha eatin'?"

"Mac and cheese!"

"That's awesome! But, Mommy told me you poured your chocolate milk on her," he said, trying to sound sad.

"Yeah," she giggled.

"That's not very nice, baby. You need to tell Mommy you're sorry, okay?"

"Okay," she said dejectedly.

"Good girl. And can you do Daddy a favor?"

"Mhmm."

"Can you please listen to Mommy? Daddy will be back soon, but Mommy's having a hard time. Can you please do what she asks you to?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, Daddy. I wisten to Mommy."

"Thank you so much, baby girl. I love you so very much, sweetie. Now, I need to talk to your brother, okay?"

"Okay, love you too, Daddy!"

"Mommy, Daddy needs to talk to Stephen!" he could hear her say. Jace smiled.

"Okay, baby, hand him the phone please."

A few seconds later, Stephen's voice came on the phone. "Daddy!" Stephen yelled excitedly.

"Hey, buddy! What are you doing?" he asked the same thing he asked his daughter.

"Eating," was his same response.

"Let me guess," Jace said, "Mac and cheese?"

"Yeah," Stephen laughed.

"Hey, bud. Mom said you've gotten in some trouble at school. She said you were being mean to another kid and talking back to your teacher? Did you do that?"

Stephen didn't say anything for a little while, so Jace spoke again, a little more sternly. "Stephen. Did you do that?"

"Yes," he said in a small voice.

"And Mommy told me that you talked back to _her._ Did you do that?"

"Yes," he said in the same small voice.

"Did you apologize to either of them?"

"No."

"Well, when you go to school Monday, I want you to apologize to your teacher, and the kid you were being mean to. Okay?"

"Okay."

"And while you're at it," Jace added, "I want you to help you're mother more, starting with helping with the dishes tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Stephen said again.

"And I want you to apologize to your Mommy as soon as you get done talking to me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you, buddy. Okay, I need to talk to your mother again. I love you. A whole super lot."

"I love you a whole super lot too, Daddy," Stephen laughed.

Jace could hear Stephen apologizing to his mother and Clary telling him that it was alrigt but that he better not do it again.

"Hey," Clary said when she got the phone back.

"Hey," he said back in that quiet voice Clary loved so much.

"Um, what did you say to Stephen?" Clary asked in slight amazement.

"Why?" Jace asked.

"Because he's doing the dishes right now, and he just apologized to me for talking back," she said, the amazement in her voice still visible.

"I told him to apologize and start helping you, beginning with helping you doing the dishes tonight," Jace said proudly.

Clary sighed in relief. "Thank you so much. Maybe he'll listen to you. What about Sopie? What'd you tell her?"

"To listen to you."

"Thank you so much, Jace."

After a pause, Jace said, "Hey, Clary?"

"Yes?" she replied. She sounded exhausted. With working overtime, plus having two kids, and doing it all alone, Jace didn't blame her.

"Can you go into our bedroom, or somewhere where we can talk for a minute alone?"

"Yeah, give me just one second." He could hear her in the background telling Stephen to go play in the living room for a minute with Sophia while she talked to Daddy.

"Okay, I'm alone," she said a minute later.

"Okay, I need you to listen to what I'm about to say. I love you. I love you so, so much. And I know you hate that I'm gone, almost as much as I do. But you just need to hang on a little longer, okay? I'll be home soon. I'm not sure when, but soon. And when I get home I'm not leaving again, I promise. So please, just remember that I love you and that you _can_ do this. You've done a great job so far, and I know you can do it for just a little longer. Okay?"

"Okay," she said with a shaky voice, her eyes blurring with tears.

"Good. Now, I've got to go, but I won't be able to talk tomorrow. I'll call you as soon as I can. I love you, Clary" Jace said, his own voice shaking.

"I love you, too, Jace. So much. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sweetheart."

 _Just two more days,_ Jace thought.

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Jace stepped out of the cab after paying the driver and took a deep breath. There it was. His home. Not just his home, but _their_ home. The home that they had bought when they got married. The home they had decided to raise their family in. The home he hadn't been in for eleven months.

When he reached the door that led to the garage, he quietly opened it and slipped inside, placing all of his luggage on the ground. He walked into the house slowly, trying his hardest not to make a sound and wake anyone up. It was 3 a.m., after all.

He stopped in the kitchen to slip his boots off and hang his coat in the closet. Then he walked down the hall silently, stopping at his and Clary's bedroom door. When he saw her laying there, clinging tightly to a pillow instead of him, his heart broke and he walked quickly to the bed and stripped down to his boxers.

Her back was facing him, so he slipped into the bed behind her and put his arm around her waist, pulling her into his hard body. She sighed blissfully and turned in his arms, burying her face in his chest. Her eyes slowly opened, and once she realized he was there, they widened to the size of saucers and she squealed – loudly.

Jace rushed to put his hand on her mouth, cutting off her screams. "Shh, you'll wake the children." He smiled brightly at her.

Before either of them could say or do anything else, she had attacked him, her lips claiming his. She rolled on top of him and continued her assault until she was forced to pull away for air.

"Oh my God," she said, tears gathering in her eyes. "Jace." The tears spilled down her cheeks in steady streams.

Jace reached out and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Don't cry, baby. I'm home now. For good."

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 **Again, this story may be really stupid, I'm sorry, but please review! :)**


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